Multiply-Ed Philippines, through its Amplify-Ed Coalition and Bantay Budget Network, joined the House of Representatives’ ceremonial turnover of the 2026 Proposed National Budget to civil society groups in Quezon City. The group called it a step toward public participation in budget planning but stressed the need for full and ongoing public access to budget documents.
While welcoming the Department of Education’s budget increase from ₱734 billion in 2025 to ₱928.5 billion in 2026, Multiply-Ed noted this is still far from the international benchmark of 6% of GDP, or about ₱1.71 trillion. Its grassroots monitoring of 90 public senior high schools showed that addressing basic input gaps nationwide could require ₱1.702 trillion, covering shortages in classrooms, textbooks, teachers, laptops, and learner support programs.
The group urged the release of full 2026 budget documents in accessible formats and called to “Open the BiCam” so the bicameral conference committee deliberations become public. They also pushed for transparency in education fund distribution and more resources for marginalized learners through IPEd, the Madrasah Education Program, SPED, and GAD initiatives.
Multiply-Ed vowed to assess the education budget closely and take part in legislative deliberations. “Babantayan namin,” they said.
